The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) football playoffs are expanding in 2025.
The FHSAA Board of Directors has approved two new Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT) brackets, one for classes 1A-3A and one for classes 4A-7A, along with a continuation of the FIT Rural bracket.
Each class will have its traditional 32-team bracket for 1A-7A.
However, the next 16 (1A-3A) highest-ranked schools that do not qualify for the state series will participate in the FIT (1A-3A) bracket and the next 16 (4A-7A) highest-ranked schools that do not qualify for the state series will participate in the FIT (4A-7A) bracket.
After experimenting with the Rural FIT bracket last year, the new format allows for 32 additional teams to participate in a state playoff format.
Last year, Dixie County (Cross County) took advantage of the new playoff format, entering the Rural FIT bracket with a 4-6 record before reeling off wins against Wewahitchka, Jefferson County (Monticello) and Trenton to reach the championship game.
The Bears (7-7), who were seeded fifth, lost to No. 6 Fort Meade, 21-13, in the inaugural FHSAA Rural FIT title game.
The sixteen (16) top-ranked schools will be placed in the Rural (Traditional) bracket, and the remaining schools will be placed in the FIT bracket.
For the FIT bracket, the number of play-in games will be determined by the number of schools in the FIT division to create a traditional twelve (12) team bracket.
The FHSAA released its new football rankings on Tuesday.
Buchholz moved up one spot to No. 2 overall in the state following a 44-0 win against city rival GHS last Friday. The Bobcats (6-1) are the No. 1 seed in Class 6A-Region 1.
The next highest ranked area team is No. 33 Columbia (Lake City), which is sixth in the state in Class 4A. The Tigers (6-1) are currently third in 4A-Region 1 behind St. Augustine and Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach).
Bradford (Starke) is ranked 40th overall and No. 4 in 2A. The Tornadoes (6-1) are the top seed in 2A-Region 2, while No. 191 Santa Fe (Alachua) (4-2), which has lost consecutive games to University Christian (Jacksonville), 49-17, and Newberry, 27-7, is sixth in the region.
Meanwhile, the No. 210 overall-ranked Panthers (3-3), winners of three in a row, would make the 2A postseason if the season ended today. Newberry, which travels to Bradford this Friday night for a rematch of last year’s 2A-District 5 championship game, is No. 7 in 2A-Region 2.
Eastside (4-2), which is coming off a bye week, hosts South Sumter (Bushnell) this Friday in what could be for the 3A-District 5 title, as both teams are 1-0 in league play in the four-team district. The Rams, ranked 103rd overall in Florida, are just outside the Class 3A top 10 at No. 12. The visiting Raiders (5-1), who are ranked No. 92 overall, are fourth in 3A-Region 2, followed by No. 5 Eastside.
Hawthorne, which was ranked ninth in the first FHSAA rankings, has moved up to No. 4 behind Blountstown, Taylor County (Perry) and Chiefland. The Hornets (4-1), who are ranked 64th overall in Florida, travel to No. 91 University Christian, which is ranked 10th in Class 1A.
Williston (5-1), which is 83rd overall, remained fifth in the Rural state rankings, while No. 105 Trenton (5-1) moved up one spot to seventh behind Pahokee following a 42-26 win at home against Oak Hall (Gainesville) last Friday on homecoming. The Red Devils and the Tigers are a handful of Tri-County area teams who are peaking as the postseason nears.